Yoga Stretchhttp://www.maclife.com/taxonomy/term/6734/all
enGo with the Vinyasa Flowhttp://www.maclife.com/article/feature/go_vinyasa_flow
<!--paging_filter--><h3>Use your iPad or iPhone to help you keep up with your yoga practice</h3><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Meditation and physical exercise are key to keeping a sound mind and a healthy body. So when I purchased my iPad and my iPod touch, I filled them with apps that could help me ease into a meditative Savasana (a relaxation posture) and maybe replace a lesson or two each week. Now, instead of plopping down after work and zoning out with my Netflix instant stream, I’m bettering my body and mind with the help of a few apps.</p><p><img src="/files/u129772/2010/11/pocketyoga_380.jpg" width="380" height="507" /><strong><br />Add your own soundtrack to Pocket Yoga HD to liven up this Downward-Facing Dog.</strong><br /><br />With <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pocket-yoga-hd/id364619441?mt=8" target="_blank">Pocket Yoga HD ($3.99)</a>, I can get my arms and legs all stretched out with a half hour of Vinyasa Flow (an aerobic form of yoga), and it’s a great substitute if I miss a night or two of yoga class. All I have to do is set the iPad in front of my yoga mat and listen as the app belts out pose instructions. If the verbal instructions aren’t quite good enough, I can watch a virtual yoga teacher show me the pose. The app also lets me choose between 45 minutes or an hour of yoga and three different practices, which I pick depending on how I’m feeling. I turned off the app’s music and added my own soundtrack: “Eye of the Tiger” for the hard parts and “Purple Rain” for the cool-down.<br /><br />When I’m looking for an intense full-body stretch, I fire up <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yoga-stretch/id295454747?mt=8" target="_blank">Yoga Stretch ($0.99)</a> to guide me through a session. It lets me create my own sequence from a variety of poses and provides a timer that counts down the time until I should switch poses. By the end, I feel like a rubber band, which means it’s the perfect time to fire up Yoga Relax ($0.99), which shows poses that can help me get into a meditation groove. Both apps are variations of each other but offer different poses depending on my needs.</p><p><img src="/files/u129772/2010/11/yogastretch_only.jpg" width="320" height="460" /><br /><strong>Yoga Stretch details the amount of time you should spend in each pose.</strong><br /><br />After my workout, it’s time for <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/all-in-yoga-hd-200-poses-yoga/id386277055?mt=8" target="_blank">All-in Yoga HD ($2.99)</a>. With it, I can keep track of my practice and my progress and make use of helpful features like Quick Recipes, which include ready-made routines categorized by difficulty. It also has a helpful “yoga teacher” mode that can be personalized by age, weight, and overall yoga goal. I also dig the Fast Mode, which is great for evenings when I don’t have much time to practice.</p><p><img src="/files/u129772/2010/11/yogahd_380.jpg" width="380" height="507" /><strong><br />Each pose in All-in Yoga HD is just as detailed as a yoga teacher would direct it, and there's a video if you need visual instruction.</strong><br /><br />In yoga class, we usually end practice with a Tibetan singing bowl, which is supposed to flush out the mind and massage the tired body with its reverberating sound. So I found <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zen-timer-for-ipad-meditation/id365641524?mt=8" target="_blank">Zen Timer for iPad ($2.99)</a>, a virtual replacement for the real thing. It supplies seven types of bowls to choose from, and you can set bell-strike intervals and a timer for how long you plan on meditating. It’s not as effective as the real thing, but for an iOS-based alternative, it ain’t bad.<br /><br />Eventually, I would love to do Bakasana (a more advanced, challenging yoga pose), but I know I won’t get there with only sporadic yoga practices. Though none of these apps will replace my yoga classes and one-on-one instruction, consistent practice only helps me get closer and closer to my Bakasana goals. So on those days when a trek to the studio is just out of the question, I simply bust out an iOS device and a yoga mat.<em><br /><br />Follow this article's author, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/ohthatflo" target="_blank">Florence Ion, on Twitter</a>.</em></p><p>&nbsp;</p>http://www.maclife.com/article/feature/go_vinyasa_flow#commentsNewsAll-in YogaAppsiPhone appsiPod AppsPocket YogaYoga StretchZen TimerFeaturesiPhoneiPodMon, 22 Nov 2010 17:11:04 +0000Florence Ion8970 at http://www.maclife.com